Smart workspace management system

ABSTRACT

Systems for managing a workspace are disclosed. A system to manage a workspace includes a plurality of docking stations located at corresponding workstations. Each docking station is configured to provide a network connection and power to a computer device at a corresponding workstation. Each docking station of the plurality of docking stations includes a power input and a network interface to communicate with a network. The system also includes a system computer including a system network interface to communicate with each docking station of the plurality of docking stations via the network.

BACKGROUND

The Internet of Things (IoT) and big data are allowing enterprises toanalyze, understand, manage, and act upon data insights in ways neverbefore imagined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system to manage a workspace, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a portion of the system ofFIG. 1, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an example view of a main dashboard user interface (UI),according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is an example view of a reports UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5 is an example view of a reports UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 6 is an example view of a reports UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 7 is an example view of a command center UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 8 is an example view of a firmware update UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 9 is an example view of a reports UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 10 is an example view of a reports UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 11 is an example view of a user management UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 12 is an example view of an alerts UI, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 13 is an example view of an alerts UI, according to someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to capturing, analyzing, andderiving actionable value from data collected at the workspace level.These embodiments provide a system and methods for accuratelyunderstanding how workstations are performing. Docking stations locatedat these workstations may include processors, and may be connected via acommunications network to a system computer. The ability to communicatewith the docking stations at the workstations enables the systemcomputer to perform various valuable operations. For example, realestate costs are likely a top two operational expense for a business.Embodiments disclosed herein enable monitoring of how assets at aworkspace (e.g., desks, workstations, etc.) are being used (e.g., whichassets are being used most) and determining why or why not the assetsare being used. By way of specific, non-limiting example, embodimentsdisclosed herein enable determining whether a workspace including 2,000(e.g., each including a desk) workstations is being effectively used, orif a smaller, cheaper workspace including only 1,400 workstations wouldbe sufficient. Downscaling to a smaller number of workstations couldreduce costs significantly by reducing the amount of money spent on realestate, furnishings for the workspace, and power consumption.

Another cost for a business is power expenditure cost. Embodimentsdisclosed herein enable monitoring of how much power is consumed in aworkspace at the workstation level, and how that power is beingconsumed. By way of non-limiting example, workstations that are stayingpowered when not in use (e.g., in the overnight hours, on holidays,etc.) may be identified, and remedial action may be taken. In additionto saving on energy expenditure costs, this monitoring may give abusiness the information needed to comply with power consumptionstandards, such as those governed by Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED), if desired.

Embodiments disclosed herein further enable Information Technology (IT)personnel to perform remote diagnostics and management of workstations.By way of non-limiting examples, embodiments disclosed herein providefor remote dock power cycle and/or reset, and remote dock firmwareupdates. Also by way of non-limiting example, embodiments disclosedherein may enable a user to create multiple different workstationconfigurations. Examples of these workstation configurations may includea first configuration for two displays, a mouse, and a keyboard, and asecond configuration with one display, a mouse, and a keyboard. Theseconfigurations may be applied to any workstation within a workspace thatis connected to the system computer. As another non-limiting example,embodiments disclosed herein may provide a visual indication thatspecific workstation satisfies/matches minimum specifications for agiven workstation configuration. For example, if a workstation isconfigured as a “two display” workstation and the system detects allspecified hardware (e.g., dual displays, mouse, and keyboard), theworkstation may receive an indicator (e.g., a color-coded indicator suchas a green indicator) on a user interface. As a further, non-limitingexample, embodiments disclosed herein may provide a visual indicationthat a specific workstation fails or does not match the minimumspecifications of a given workstation configuration. For example, if aworkstation is configured as a “two-display” workstation and the systemdoes not detect all specified hardware (e.g., dual displays, mouse, andkeyboard), the workstation may receive an indicator (e.g., a color-codedindicator such as a red indicator) on a user interface.

Since the system computer communicates with the docking stations at theworkstations, the system computer may automate asset management. Forexample, the system computer may automatically log and inventoryperipherals (e.g., displays, accessories, Hard Disc Drives (HDDs), etc.)connected to the docking stations. For example, the system computer maybe configured to automatically discover all electronic assets in thesystem. Also, the system computer may be configured to automaticallyinventory all electronic assets and provide unique identifications foreach electronic asset (e.g., as supplied via an operating system). Thesystem computer may further enable a user to enter search criteria foran asset and have the system return matches that match the searchcriteria entered by the user (e.g., returned values should be totalquantity matches such as, for example “Dell display=system returnsnumeric value). As another example, the system computer may beconfigured to generate reports that identify inventoried electronicdevices. In some embodiments, the system computer may be configured toexport a current connected electronic asset inventory to a file (e.g., acomma separated values (CSV) file, other similar format, etc.). In someembodiments, the system computer may be configured to provide a textfield to enter asset-specific notes that will stay tied to that sameasset if it is unplugged and moved elsewhere (e.g., from one workstationto another workstation). Examples of text that may be tied to an assetinclude install date, cost, department of ownership, etc. The systemcomputer may enable the user to search (e.g., text search) the textfield for any detected asset. In some embodiments, the system computermay be configured to run a report that will list all assets that wereconnected previously but are not connected now (e.g., to discovermissing assets, etc.).

In addition, the system computer may monitor health of peripheraldevices (e.g., displays and other accessories) and perform diagnosticson these peripheral devices. This monitoring may include real-timeworkstation status tracking, determining whether workstations are notbeing used due to equipment issues or are malfunctioning, determiningwhether ports of the docking stations are functioning correctly,providing alerts, warnings, notifications, etc., and monitoringworkspace ambient conditions such as temperature, humidity, internaltemperature of devices, etc.

The embodiments disclosed herein may benefit docking station users, ITmanagement and IT support personnel, facilities and space planners, andreal estate and change management. For IT management and supportpersonnel, the embodiments disclosed herein enable remote dockingstation reset (e.g., from the next room or from a continent away),remote docking station firmware updates, remote diagnostics (e.g.,workstation health diagnostics), connected peripheral identification,and remote Alternating Current (AC) power on/off control and power eventscheduling. For facilities and space planners and real estate and changemanagement, workstation utilization may be reviewed. These beneficiariesmay analyze data (e.g., power consumption data, workspace usage data,etc.) at a global level, a region level (e.g., the region includingmultiple offices or office buildings), an office level (e.g., a singlebuilding or campus including multiple buildings within a region), afloor level (e.g., a floor within an office), a zone level (e.g., a zonewithin a floor), a department level (e.g., an IT department, anengineering department, a human resources department, etc.), a desklevel, etc. Dashboards or graphical user interfaces (UIs) for Webbrowser and/or mobile device software applications may be provided,including UIs with heat-maps to illustrate power consumption within aworkspace.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 to manage a workspace 102,according to some embodiments. The workspace 102 includes a plurality ofworkstations 104, each including a docking station 106. It should beunderstood that the workspace 102 may span a global level, an officelevel, a floor level, a zone level, or a department level, etc. FIG. 1illustrates only two workstations 104 to avoid complexity of FIG. 1, butit should be understood that the plurality of workstations 104 mayinclude two or more workstations 104 up to any number of workstations104 (e.g., hundreds or thousands of workstations). Each docking station106 is configured to provide a network connection 134 and power 136 to acomputer device 132 at the corresponding one of the workstations 104.Each docking station 106 includes a power input 108 and a networkinterface 112 to communicate with a network 114. The network interface112 may also be configured to enable each docking station 106 tocommunicate with other docking stations 106 in the workspace 102 in aninternal mesh network 142 (e.g., via Bluetooth low energy (BLE)technology or other mesh networking technologies).

The system 100 also includes a system computer 138 including a systemnetwork interface 116 to enable the system computer 138 to communicate,through the network 114, with each docking station 106 at each of theplurality of workstations 104. The system computer 138 may include oneor more computer devices located on-site at the workspace 102, off-site,in a cloud network (e.g., the cloud with analytics/in house server 214of FIG. 2), in an in-house network (e.g., the in-house IT network 218 ofFIG. 2), or combinations thereof. The system network interface 116 ofthe system computer 138 and the network interface 112 of each dockingstation 106 enables the system computer 138 to manage the workspace 102in a variety of ways. For example, the system computer 138 may becapable of:

-   -   managing and monitoring consumption of power at the workstations        104 (e.g., capturing and analyzing individual device power        consumption at the workstations 104, understand and optimize        power consumption at the workstations 104, schedule power on/off        events, etc.)    -   managing workspace occupancy and scheduling (e.g., provide        workspace utilization data, schedule Hotdesking environments        where users are not permanently assigned to particular        workstations 104, understand how a flexible workspace is        working, maximize available space, reduce real estate costs,        etc.).    -   managing access and/or security of workstations through        authentication tools such as radio frequency identification        (RFID) (e.g., near field communication, or “NFC”).    -   managing assets (e.g., automatic identification and inventorying        of peripheral devices connected to docking stations 106, etc.)    -   managing and actuating devices remotely (e.g., enable IT        professionals to remotely manage the workspace 102, perform soft        resets, power cycle, and firmware updates remotely, etc.)    -   securing workspace and finding employees (e.g., identify and        locate employees based on their scheduled workstations 104,        provide enhanced network security, understand which of the        workstations 104 employees are located in, enable employees to        find each other, and enable employees to work more efficiently        and securely, etc.)    -   generating a management dashboard with visual heat-mapping        (e.g., a graphical user dashboard visualizes complex data using        heat-mapping and easy-to-understand charting to show real-time        or historic snapshots, quickly understand high-level overview of        workspaces or drill down into the detail with device-level        granularity, etc.)

To enable these functions, and other functions disclosed herein, of thesystem computer 138, the system computer 138 may include computer codeconfigured to instruct the system computer 138 to perform thesefunctions. By way of non-limiting example, the computer code may beorganized into computer code for occupancy 126, scheduling 118, thermalimaging 120, asset management 122, and system management 124. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other organizations of thecomputer code other than the example presented in FIG. 1 may be usedwithout departing from the scope of the disclosure. The followingdiscussion will provide more detail regarding the functions the systemcomputer 138 is configured to perform.

Desk Power Consumption and Monitoring

The docking station 106 of each of the workstations 104 may includeperipheral device ports 110 configured to interact with one or moreperipheral devices (e.g., displays 216 and accessories 212 of FIG. 2).The docking station 106 is configured to detect how much power is drawnfrom each of its peripheral device ports 110 and report the powerconsumption information to the system computer 138. In some embodiments,the docking station 106 may also be configured to monitor how much poweris drawn from other power sources (e.g., the desktop AC and USB power204 and/or the smart power 202 of FIG. 2) within the correspondingworkstation 104. This power consumption data reported to the systemcomputer 138 may be used to identify devices that are drawing power,devices that are malfunctioning, and use of unauthorized devices at theworkstations 104.

The reporting, by the docking station 106 at each of the workstations104, to the system computer 138 of the power consumption informationenables the system computer 138 to provide analytics regarding powerconsumption on a region level, an office level, a floor level, a zonelevel, a desk level, etc. (e.g., see FIGS. 3-6 and 9). These analyticsmay be detailed enough to show how much power is used by each port ofthe peripheral device ports 110 and ports of other power sources (e.g.,see FIG. 9). These analytics may be displayed on UIs, printed, providedvia emails to relevant personnel, or used and/or reported in other ways.

Workspace Occupancy and Scheduling

The docking station 106 at each of the workstations 104 of the workspace102 may include a sensor 128 to monitor user occupancy at thecorresponding one of the workstations 104 and generate sensor datarelating to the user occupancy. By way of non-limiting example, thesensor 128 may include an infrared sensor and/or thermal sensor toconfirm user occupancy. A thermal sensor may be configured to monitorambient temperature at the corresponding one of the workstations 104 andgenerate sensor data relating to the ambient temperature. Other examplesof the sensor 128 may include a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, apower use sensor (e.g., to sense when power is being drawn from thedocking station 106 and/or other power supplies at the workstations104), an image sensor (e.g., a camera), a motion sensor, a capacitivesensor, a mechanical sensor (e.g., in a chair), a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) sensor (e.g., to detect an RFID signature producedby a device such as an NFC device carried by the user and/or thecomputer device 132), a battery charge sensor of a battery that powersthe sensor 128 or the IoT sensor pack 210 of FIG. 2, other sensors, orcombinations thereof. The docking station 106 at each of theworkstations 104 may also include a memory 130 including a locationidentifier stored thereon. The location identifier identifies a locationof the docking station 106 and the corresponding one of the workstations104 within the workspace 102.

Each docking station 106 is configured to transmit the sensor datarelating to the user occupancy and the location identifier stored in thememory 130 to the system computer 138 through the network 114. In someembodiments, the sensor data and location identifiers may be transmitteddirectly from each of the docking stations 106 to the system computer138. In some embodiments, the sensor data and location identifiers maybe transmitted from docking station 106 to docking station 106 throughthe network 142, and to the system computer 138 through the network 114by a preselected one of the docking stations 106.

The system computer 138 is configured to receive the location identifierand sensor data from each docking station 106, and store thisinformation in one or more databases. As the system computer 138 isprovided with the location identifier and the sensor data relating tothe user occupancy for each docking station 106, the system computer 138has sufficient information to determine a location and occupancy of eachof the workstations 104 in the workspace 102, which enables a variety ofuseful functions. For example, the system computer 138 may be configuredto use the location identifier and sensor data to generate usage dataindicating how the workstations 104 are used (e.g., FIGS. 7 and 11).When irregularities are observed in usage of the workstations 104,alerts may be generated (e.g., see FIGS. 12-13).

In some embodiments, the computer code for occupancy 126 may beconfigured to instruct the system computer 138 to generate anavailability notice indicating one or more of the workstations 104 thatare currently unoccupied by a user and the locations of the currentlyunoccupied workstations 104 (e.g., FIG. 7). In some embodiments, thecomputer code for scheduling 118 may be configured to generate aschedule of currently available workstations 104. In some embodiments,the computer code for scheduling 118 may be configured to analyze usagedata and generate a usage report indicative of user occupancy atworkstations and their corresponding locations. The usage data may bereported using UIs (e.g., of web browsers, software applications ofmobile devices or computers, etc.), online reports, printed reports,emails, other reports, or combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the computer code for scheduling 118 may beconfigured to instruct the system computer 138 to analyze the usage dataand generate an anticipated availability schedule indicating futurelikelihood of available workstations 104 and their correspondinglocations. The future likelihood of available workstations 104 may bedetermined based on past observations of availability of theworkstations 104. By way of non-limiting example, there may be somecorrelation between use of the workstations 104 from one time period toanother (e.g., from day to day, from month to month, etc.). Also by wayof non-limiting example, seasonal trends may be observed in theavailability of the workstations 104. These correlations and trends maybe leveraged to predict future availability of the workstations 104.

The ability to monitor and/or predict use of the workstations 104 mayenable more efficient use of office space, equipment, and power. Forexample, if it is determined that fewer workstations 104 are needed toaccommodate the demand for workstations 104, savings may be made byreducing real estate, equipment, and/or electrical power costs. Also,the ability to monitor and/or predict use of the workstations 104 mayenable planning ahead for increased demand for workstations 104 ratherthan be left with insufficient workstations 104 once it is realized thatmore workstations 104 are needed while additional real estate and/orequipment is/are acquired.

In some embodiments, the system computer 138 may be configured toreceive user reservation requests to reserve the workstations 104 foruse by users. By way of non-limiting example, the system computer 138may be configured to communicate, through the network 114, with one ormore portable computer devices 140. The user reservation requests may bereceived from the portable computer devices 140. For example, anemployee may transmit a user reservation request, via a personal mobiledevice (e.g., a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.), to one of theworkstations 104 before or after arriving at the workspace 102. Thecomputer code for scheduling 118 may be configured to process the userreservation request and generate a reservation for a specific one of theworkstations 104. The computer code for scheduling 118 may also beconfigured to generate a schedule and indicate that specific ones of theworkstations 104 are reserved. The computer code for occupancy 126 maybe configured to provide the schedule to the portable computer devices140 to enable users to identify their assigned workstations 104. In someembodiments, the system computer 138 may be configured to provide, tothe portable computer devices 140 directions, a map, or both forarriving at assigned workstations 104. In some embodiments, the systemcomputer 138 may be configured to provide availability notices to theportable computer devices 140. In some embodiments the computer device132 may be configured to confirm occupancy of specific reservedworkstations 104 when users arrive at the workstations 104.

Employee Wayfinding and Security

As previously discussed, in some embodiments the sensor data received bythe system computer 138 from each docking station 106 may be indicativeof user occupancy at the corresponding one of the workstations 104. As aresult, the system computer 138 may be configured to generate usage datathat is based on the sensor data. For example, the computer code forscheduling 118 may be configured to instruct the system computer 138 togenerate a schedule of users currently assigned to workstations 104 andthe locations of the assigned workstations 104. As a result, the systemcomputer 138 is capable of tracking locations of users. In a workenvironment where employees do not have workstations 104 assignedpermanently for their use, this may enable users (e.g., other employees,IT professionals, administrators, managers, etc.) to locate employeeswithin the workspace 102. By way of non-limiting example, a usermanagement UI 1100 may be provided, as will be discussed in more detailbelow. If irregularities are detected in the finding employees, or ifunauthorized users are located, alerts may be generated (e.g., see FIGS.12-13).

In some embodiments the computer code for scheduling 118 may beconfigured to instruct the system computer 138 to generate a schedule ofcurrently available workstations 104 and the location of the currentlyavailable workstations 104. In some embodiments, the computer code forscheduling 118 may be configured to instruct the system computer 138 togenerate an occupancy alert when usage data (e.g., data indicatinglaptop connections, IR sensing, etc.) indicates user occupancy at ascheduled available workstation of the workstations 104. In someembodiments, the computer code for scheduling 118 may be configured toinstruct the system computer 138 to analyze usage data and generate ausage report indicative of user occupancy at workstations 104 andcorresponding locations. In some embodiments, the computer code forscheduling 118 may be configured to instruct the system computer 138 togenerate an availability alert when usage data indicates extendedvacancy at a scheduled occupied workstation of the workstations 104.

In some embodiments, the computer code for scheduling 118 may beconfigured to instruct the system computer 138 to process a userreservation request to reserve one of the workstations 104, generate areservation for a specific available one of the workstations 104, andgenerate the schedule and indicate that the specific one of theworkstations 104 is reserved. In some embodiments, the computer code foroccupancy 126 may be configured to instruct the system computer 138 toconfirm user occupancy of the specific workstation during thereservation based on the usage data.

In some embodiments the system computer 138 is configured to communicatewith the portable computer devices 140 over the network 114 to providethe schedule currently assigned to the workstations 104 and the locationof the assigned workstations 104. In some embodiments, the computer codefor scheduling 118 may be configured to instruct the system computer 138to provide the location of a user's assigned one of the workstations 104responsive to a query for the specific user. In some embodiments, thelocation of the user's assigned workstation of the workstations 104 maybe represented in a graphical user interface including a map showing thelocation of the user's assigned workstation. In some embodiments,NFC/RFID devices may be used to provide user access (e.g.,authorization) and/or control of facilities and equipment of theworkspace 102 for security reasons.

Asset Management

In some embodiments, each docking station 106 is configured to monitoruser-entered input of the corresponding computer device 132 located atits workstation 104 (e.g., using the computer code for asset management122). Each docking station 106 may transmit information indicating thismonitored user-entered input to the system computer 138. Also, aspreviously discussed, workstation 104 utilization, sensor data, anddetailed power consumption information is available to the systemcomputer 138, which together enable a detailed picture to be painted ofassets used at the workstations 104. As a result, this information maybe used to keep inventories of assets. Also, power consumption profilesof peripheral devices connected to the docking stations 106 and otherpower supplies may be compared to expected power consumption profiles toidentify and monitor these peripheral devices. When the powerconsumption profile of a device deviates from the expected powerconsumption profile it may be determined that the device ismalfunctioning or needs maintenance. Also, if a pattern of usersavoiding use of a particular one of the workstations 104 is observed, itmay be determined that an asset may be malfunctioning or needmaintenance. Alerts may be generated to indicate these issues to ITpersonnel (e.g., see FIGS. 12 and 13).

In some embodiments, each docking station 106 is configured to identifyone or more peripheral devices currently communicating with the dockingstation 106 and generate peripheral identifications identifying theperipheral devices. Each docking station 106 may transmit theseperipheral identifications to the system computer 138.

Remote Device Management and Actuation

IT personnel may be provided the ability to view information receivedfrom the docking stations 106 (e.g., see FIGS. 3-13). This informationmay enable IT personnel to view power consumption information (e.g.,FIGS. 3-6 and 9), obtain information about users (e.g., FIGS. 7 and 11),remotely update docking stations and power management devices (e.g.,FIG. 8), view how specific ports are used at the workstations 104 (e.g.,FIG. 9), review sensor readings from the workstations 104, and receiveand take action for alerts (FIGS. 12 and 13).

In some embodiments, the system computer 138 is configured to enableremote software installation, remote software uninstallation, andsoftware updating of each docking station 106 (and of the smart power202, and the IoT sensor pack 210 discussed below with reference to FIG.2). In some embodiments, the system computer 138 is configured to enableremote software installation, remote software uninstallation, andsoftware updating of each computer device 132. In some embodiments, thesystem computer 138 is configured to enable remote resetting of eachdocking station 106 (and of the smart power 202, and the IoT sensor pack210 of FIG. 2). In some embodiments, the system computer 138 isconfigured to enable remote resetting of each computer device 132.

Management Dashboard with Visual Heat-Mapping

A dashboard may be provided by the system computer 138 (e.g., using thecomputer code for system management 124). Examples of UIs (e.g., of webpages and/or mobile applications) that are provided by the dashboard areillustrated in FIGS. 3-13. Also, heat-maps may be used to illustratemeasured metrics throughout the workspace 102. For example, a totalpower consumption heat-map 604 (FIG. 6) may be provided to enable a userto easily and quickly view and understand how power consumption isdistributed throughout the workspace 102 at varying levels of detail.Other metrics may be illustrated using heat-maps. For example, ambienttemperature at the workstations 104 may be illustrated using a heat-mapsimilar to that of FIG. 6 (e.g., using the computer code for thermalimaging 120). In some embodiments, the heat-maps provided by the systemcomputer 138 may update based on new sensor data in real-time. In someembodiments, the heat-maps provided by the system computer 138 may besnapshots at particular points in time. In some embodiments, the systemcomputer 138 may analyze the sensor data to generate a chart ofheat-mapping over a time interval. In some embodiments, the systemcomputer 138 is configured to analyze the sensor data and generate a UIwith indication of electronic devices (e.g., peripherals, other devices,etc.) at the workstations 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a portion of the system 100.FIG. 2 shows the docking station 106 connected to the computer device132 at a workstation (e.g., one of the workstations 104 of FIG. 1) viathe network connection 134 and the power 136. The docking station 106 isalso connected to one or more accessories 212 (e.g., via the peripheraldevice ports 110 of FIG. 1), which may include a pointing device (e.g.,a mouse, a trackpad, etc.), a printer, a scanner, a camera (e.g., awebcam, a video camera, etc.), a keyboard, a microphone, a speaker,other accessories, or combinations thereof. The docking station 106 isfurther connected to one or more electronic displays 216 (e.g., via theperipheral device ports 110 of FIG. 1).

By way of non-limiting example, the docking station 106 may include ahigh-performance, smart USB-C dual 4K docking station with 100 Wattpower delivery. In this example, the power 136 and network connection134 may be provided to the computer device 132 via a USB-C interfacefrom the docking station 106, and the electronic displays 216 mayinclude 4K displays. The docking station 106 may also be connected(e.g., via the power input 108 of FIG. 1) to a source of smart power 202(e.g., an under-desk mounted smart power strip with four power outlets),which in turn is connected to a source of desktop AC and USB power 204(e.g., a desktop mounted satellite AC power strip with, for example, twooutlets and a USB power port). The docking station 106 may further beconnected to an IoT sensor pack 210, which in some embodiments mayinclude the sensor 128 of FIG. 1. By way of non-limiting example, theIoT sensor pack 210 may include an under-desk mounted sensor boxincluding multiple data capture sensors (e.g., a thermal sensor, aninfrared sensor, a motion sensor, an ambient temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, a pressure sensor, etc.). As a specific, non-limitingexample, the IoT sensor pack 210 may include thermal, humidity, andpressure sensors to monitor ambient temperature, humidity, and pressure,respectively, at the workstation 104 and generate sensor data relatingto the ambient temperature, humidity, and pressure.

The docking station 106 may be configured to communicate with anin-house IT network 218 and/or the mesh network 142 (FIG. 1) to otherdocking stations 106, which in turn communicates with a cloud withanalytics/in house server 214. The in-house IT network 218 and the cloudwith analytics/in house server 214 may together perform the functionsdiscussed above for the system computer 138. By way of non-limitingexample, the cloud with analytics/in house server 214 may provide an ITadministration UI 208 to a computer of an IT professional. The ITadministration UI 208 may enable the IT professional to perform remotedesktop management functions such as remote reset and firmware updatesof the docking station 106. Also, the cloud with analytics/in houseserver 214 may provide a facilities UI 206 to a computer offacilities/space planners/real estate/change management. The facilitiesUI 206 may be configured to provide workspace utilization reporting.Furthermore, the cloud/in house server with analytics/in house server214 may provide an end user UI 220 and mobile software applications(e.g., to the portable computer devices 140) to enable reservation ofworkstations and wayfinding of employees.

FIGS. 3-13 are views of various example graphical user interfaces (UIs)300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200 that may be provided by the systemcomputer 138 of FIG. 1. These UIs include a main dashboard UI 300 (FIG.3), a reports UI 400 (FIGS. 4-6, 9, and 10), a command center UI 700(FIG. 7), a firmware update UI 800, a user management UI 1100, and analerts UI 1200. It will be understood that some or all of these UIs 300,400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200 may be displayed on the system computer138, the computer device 132 of any of the workstations 104, theelectronic displays 216, the portable computer devices 140, orcombinations thereof (FIG. 1) (e.g., using web browsers, webapplications, software applications, mobile applications, etc.). In someembodiments, some or all of these UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200may be part of the IT administration UI 208, the facilities UI 206, orboth (FIG. 2). It should be understood that in some embodiments a userwith proper network permissions may access the UIs 300, 400, 700, 800,and 1100 on the system computer 138 itself, on an IT department computer(not shown), on any computer device 132 in the workspace 102, on aworkspace management computer (not shown) located at the workspace 102or elsewhere, the portable computer devices 140, or any other devices(e.g., mobile devices) that are in communication with the network 114.

The UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200 each include UI links 302-316to enable a user to, if selected by the user, quickly and easilynavigate between the various UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200. Forexample, the UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200 include a maindashboard link 302 configured to navigate to the main dashboard UI 300,a reports link 304 configured to navigate to the reports UI 400, acommand center link 306 configured to navigate to the command center UI700, an alerts link 308 configured to navigate to the alerts UI 1200, auser management link 310 configured to navigate to the user managementUI 1100, a device management link 312 configured to navigate to a devicemanagement UI (not shown), a location management link 314 configured tonavigate to a location management UI (not shown), and a firmware updatelink 316 configured to navigate to the firmware update UI 800.

The UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200 each also include a changedata scope menu 328 configured to enable a user to select betweenanalyzing data originating from the docking station 106 of each of theworkstations 104 (FIG. 1) of all regions or one or more selectedregions, all offices or one or more selected offices, all floors or oneor more selected floors within a selected office or offices, and allzones or one or more selected zones of one or more selected floors,offices, or regions. As a result, the UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and1200 allow the user to narrow or broaden the data shown to fit theselected scope.

The UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200 each further include a userprofile option 332 and a settings option 334. The user profile option332, if selected, may cause a user profile UI (not shown) to bepresented to the user. The user profile UI may enable the user to login, log out, set user preferences, navigate user permissions, performother user-specific tasks, or combinations thereof. The settings option334, if selected, may cause a settings UI (not shown) to be presented tothe user. The settings UI may provide various settings options for thesystem 100 (FIG. 1) and the UIs 300, 400, 700, 800, 1100, and 1200.

FIG. 3 is an example view of the main dashboard UI 300, according tosome embodiments. The main dashboard UI 300 includes a total powerconsumed today field 318 configured to indicate total power consumed bythe system 100 (FIG. 1) during a current day. For example, FIG. 3indicates that 702 kilo-Watt hours have been consumed as of 18:15, andthe total power consumed today field 318 provides a plot of the totalpower consumed as a function of time. As a result, the total powerconsumed today field 318 enables a user to monitor how much total powerhas been consumed at any given time of the day, and see at what times ofthe day more or less power was consumed.

The main dashboard UI 300 also includes an average power consumptionfield 320 configured to indicate average power consumed by the system100. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the average power consumption field320 indicates an average power consumed per office (e.g., officelocation), an average power consumed per floor within the office, anaverage power consumed per zone (e.g., a subdivision of the office), andan average power consumed per workstation (e.g., the workstations 104 ofFIG. 1). It will be noted that the change data scope menu 328 allows theuser to change the scope of the data displayed in the total powerconsumed today field 318 and the average power consumption field 320.The main dashboard UI 300 may also include other fields, such as analerts field 322 and a workstation field 324 configured to provideinformation regarding alerts and the workstations 104, respectively.

The main dashboard UI 300 further includes a shortcuts field 330configured to provide user-selectable shortcuts to enable a user of themain dashboard UI 300 to quickly and easily navigate to other UIs orspecific sub-fields of the other UIs. For example, the shortcuts field330 of FIG. 3 includes an add new user shortcut, an edit a usershortcut, a link NFC to a user shortcut, an associate a workstationshortcut, a configure an alert shortcut, and a notification settingsshortcut.

The main dashboard UI 300 further includes an explore field 326configured to provide user-selectable links to instructions for the userto follow to direct operation of the system 100. For example, theexplore field 326 of FIG. 3 illustrates user-selectable links toinstructions for learning how to add an office, learning how to add aworkstation, and learning how to set scheduled actions to save power.

FIG. 4 is an example view of the reports UI 400, according to someembodiments. The reports UI 400 is configured to enable a user togenerate reports regarding the system 100 of FIG. 1. For example, thereports UI 400 is configured to generate and present reports for powerconsumption, usage duration, sensor data (e.g., collected by the sensor128 of FIG. 1 and/or the IoT sensor pack 210 of FIG. 2), dock portusage, alerts, other reports, or combinations thereof. The reports UI400 includes a templates field 402, a types field 404, and a reportsfield 406. The templates field 402 is configured to, responsive to auser selection of a Quick Generate option within the templates field402, quickly generate a report.

The types field 404 is configured to enable the user to select a type ofreport to generate (e.g., using the Quick Generate option in thetemplates field 402). For example, the types field 404 of FIG. 4 enablesthe user to select between a power consumption report, a usage durationreport, a sensor report, and a dock port usage report. The reports UI400 of FIG. 4 shows a power consumption report field 408 and a top powerconsuming workstations field 410, which were generated responsive to auser selecting the Quick Generate option of the templates field 402 andthe power consumption report option from the types field 404. The powerconsumption report field 408 of FIG. 4 shows a cumulative powerconsumption option 412 selected, which causes the power consumptionreport field 408 to show a total power consumed, an average powerconsumption per hour, and a plot of the cumulative power consumptionthroughout the day as a function of time. FIG. 5 below illustrates thereports UI 400 including the power consumption report field 408 with anhourly power consumption option 414 selected instead of the cumulativepower consumption option 412.

The top power consuming workstations field 410 is configured to indicatethe top power consuming workstations 104 (FIG. 1) (e.g., in order fromtop power consuming to least power consuming), a total power consumed bythese workstations 104, how much of the total power was consumed from anoutlet of the docking station 106 (FIGS. 1 and 2) and various poweroutlets of the smart power 202 (FIG. 2) (e.g., GPO1, GPO2, GPO3, etc.),which office, floor, and zone the workstations 104 are located in, andwhich user or users the workstations 104 were assigned to. The top powerconsuming workstations field 410 may also provide a search bar to enablethe user to search for a specific one of the workstations 104 to gatherthe power consumption information regarding the specific one of theworkstations 104.

The reports field 406 of the reports UI 400 is configured to provideuser-selectable options for generate a power consumption report, a usageduration report, an alert report, sensor reports, and a dock port usagereport. FIG. 6 below shows a heat-map field 602 including a total powerconsumption heat-map 604, which may be provided by the reports UI 400responsive to a user selection of the power consumption report optionwithin the reports field 406.

FIG. 5 is an example view of the reports UI 400, according to someembodiments. The reports UI 400 of FIG. 5 is the same as the reports UI400 of FIG. 4 except that an hourly power consumption option 414 of thepower consumption report field 408 has been selected, which causes thepower consumption report field 408 to display a plot of hourly powerconsumption during the day as a function of time.

FIG. 6 is an example view of the reports UI 400, according to someembodiments. FIG. 6 shows a heat-map field 602 including a total powerconsumption heat-map 604, which may be provided by the reports UI 400responsive to a user selection of the power consumption report optionwithin the reports field 406. The total power consumption heat-map 604includes a map of at least a portion of the workspace 102 (FIG. 1) thatshows the workstations 104 and includes circular heat indicators 606 ofvarying size to indicate a total amount of power consumed at each of theworkstations 104. In the example shown in FIG. 6, a larger size of thecircular heat indicators 606 indicates a higher total power consumed atthe workstations 104 as opposed to a smaller size of the circular heatindicators 606, which indicates a lower total power consumed at theworkstations 104. The heat-map field 602 enables the user to graphicallyview areas within the workspace 102 where more or less power is consumedat the workstations 104, which may give an accurate idea of workstations104 that are not being used (e.g., because less desirability oflocation, poor functioning of equipment, etc.) and workstations 104 thatare being used improperly (e.g., where too much power is being used,which may indicate malfunctioning of equipment or use of unauthorizeddevices).

It should be noted that in some embodiments, heat indicators that arenot circular, but have a different shape (e.g., oval, square, rectangle,triangle, pentagon, octagon, other polygon, other shape, or combinationsthereof), may be used. Also, some other indicator other than the size ofa shape may be used in the heat-map field 602. For example, variation incolors on the heat-map field 602 may be used to illustrate variation in,for example, power consumption.

It should also be noted that heat-maps may be used herein to illustratemetrics other than total power consumed. For example, heat-maps may beused to illustrate time of occupancy of the workstations 104,temperature at the workstations 104, humidity at the workstations 104,battery charge of backup batteries at the workstations 104, othermetrics, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 7 is an example view of the command center UI 700, according tosome embodiments. The command center UI 700 is configured to indicateworkstation configurations for a selected area (e.g., selected using thechange data scope menu 328). The command center UI 700 includes aworkstation configuration field 706 configured to provide workstationconfiguration information. The command center UI 700 also includes a mapview option 702 and a list view option 704 configured to cause theworkstation configuration field 706 to present the workstationconfiguration information in a map form and a list form, respectively,when selected by the user. In the example of FIG. 7, the map view option702 is selected, so the workstation configuration field 706 is shown inthe map form, including a map of the selected portion of the workspace102. The workstations 104 of the selected portion of the workspace 102are shown in the workstation configuration field 706.

The command center UI 700 is configured to indicate a number ofworkstations 104, a number of available workstations 104, a number ofworkstations 104 in use, and a number of workstations 104 that areturned off within the selected area. In some embodiments, theworkstations 104 shown within the workstation configuration field 706may be color coded to indicate which of the workstations 104 areavailable, are in use/powered on, and are powered off. If the list viewoption 704 were selected, similar information may be presented in a listformat (e.g., a list of the workstations 104 with their correspondingstatuses).

The command center UI 700 also includes a control panels field 708including links to various control panels for the system 100. Forexample, the control panels field 708 of FIG. 7 includes an officecontrol panel option configured to, when selected by the user, present acontrol panel for the office selected. Also, the control panels field708 includes a floor control panel option configured to, when selectedby the user, present a control panel for the floor selected. Further,the control panels field 708 includes a zone control panel configuredto, when selected by the user, present a control panel for the zoneselected. Accordingly, the control panels field 708 provides the userwith control over workstations 104 on an office level, a floor level, ora zone level.

FIG. 8 is an example view of the firmware update UI 800, according tosome embodiments. The firmware update UI 800 is configured to enable auser to perform remote updates to firmware of the docking station 106 ofeach workstations 104 of the workspace 102 (FIG. 1). The firmware updateUI 800 is also configured to indicate a version of the latest deviceupdate, a number of active update processes, a number of scheduledupdate processes, a number of docking stations 106 that are eligible forupdate in a selected area (e.g., selected using the change data scopemenu 328) within the workspace 102, a number of docking stations 106 inthe selected area that are currently updating, and a number of dockingstations 106 in the selected area that are updated.

In some embodiments, the firmware update UI 800 includes an updatecontrol center option 802 configured to, when selected by the user,update firmware and/or software of a control center (e.g., the systemcomputer 138). In some embodiments, the firmware update UI 800 includesan update docking stations option 804 configured to, when selected bythe user, update firmware and/or software operating on the dockingstations 106 of the selected area. In some embodiments, the firmwareupdate UI 800 includes an update PMDs option 806 (update PowerManagement Device option 806) configured to update firmware or softwareoperating on one or more PMDs in the system 100 (FIG. 1). In someembodiments, the firmware update UI 800 includes an update sensorsoption 808 configured to update firmware and/or software of the sensors128 (FIG. 1) and/or the IoT sensor packs 210 (FIG. 2) in the selectedarea. In some embodiments, the firmware update UI 800 includes aselected workstations field 810 configured to indicate the workstations104 that have been selected. A list view option 812 and a map viewoption 814 enable the user to select between a list view and a map view,respectively, of the selected workstations field 810. The selectedworkstations field 810 shown in FIG. 8 is in the map view mode, andtherefore shows maps of the workstations 104 in all regions, alloffices, all floors, and all zones.

In some embodiments, the firmware update UI 800 includes an actionsfield 816 configured to enable a user to quickly and easily start a newupdate process for docking stations and schedule a new update processfor docking stations at a time of the user's choosing.

FIG. 9 is an example view of the reports UI 400, according to someembodiments. The reports UI 400 of FIG. 9 illustrates a dock port usagefield 902 displayed responsive to selections of the dock port reportoption of the types field 404 and the Quick Generate option of thetemplates field 402. The dock port usage field 902 is configured toindicate an amount of time per hour that each of the peripheral deviceports 110 of the docking station 106 of a selected one of theworkstations 104 (FIG. 1) has been used. By way of non-limiting example,the docking station 106 of the selected workstation 104 includes USBPort 1, USB Port 2, USB Port 3, USB Port 4 (Powered), Ethernet, HDMIPort 1, DisplayPort 1, HDMI Port 2, DisplayPort 2, USB C Port 1, LaptopConnected, and DC Out, 3.5 mm Port. In the dock port usage field 902 ofFIG. 9, the amount of time during each hour of the day that these portswere in use is indicated using a color coding scheme to indicate either0, 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 minutes of use during each hour of theday.

The dock port usage field 902 is also configured to indicate a location(e.g., office 1, floor 1, zone 1) a user of the selected workstation 104is assigned to (e.g., user 1), a docking station status (e.g., backupdock), and an Ethernet speed (e.g., 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps)) ofthe selected workstation 104 (e.g., workstation 1).

FIG. 10 is an example view of the reports UI 400, according to someembodiments. The reports UI 400 of FIG. 10 illustrates a sensor readingfield 1002 and a workstation sensor status field 1004 displayedresponsive to selections of the sensor reports option of the types field404 and the Quick Generate option of the templates field 402. The sensorreading field 1002 is configured to enable the user to view informationregarding sensor readings taken at the workstations 104 of FIG. 1 (e.g.,taken by the sensor 128 (FIG. 1) and/or the IoT sensor pack 210 (FIG.2)). By way of non-limiting example, the sensor reading field 1002 maybe selectively configured to display temperature readings, humidityreadings, occupancy readings, battery state of charge readings of asensor battery (e.g., a battery for the sensor 128 and/or the IoT sensorpack 210), and plots of each over time, for a selected workstation 104.

The workstation sensor status field 1004 is configured to indicatestatuses of sensors at a list of selected workstations (e.g., selectedusing the change data scope menu 328). By way of non-limiting example,the workstation sensor status field 1004 may be configured to listtemperature, humidity, occupancy, sensor battery state of charge, anoffice, floor, and zone of each workstation 104, and a user assigned toeach workstation 104.

FIG. 11 is an example view of the user management UI 1100, according tosome embodiments. The user management UI 1100 is configured to enablemanagement of users within a selected area (e.g., selected using thechange data scope menu 328) within the workspace 102 of FIG. 1. The usermanagement UI 1100 is configured to indicate a number of active users inthe selected area, a number of inactive users (e.g., former users whohave been removed from the system 100), a number of the active usersthat are administrators, a number of the active users that are managers,a number of the active users that are end users, a number of the activeusers that have been assigned NFC cards (e.g., to interact with NFCsensors at the workstations 104 and at entrances of offices, conferencerooms, other facilities, etc.), a number of the active users without NFCcards, a number of the active users having assigned workstations 104,and a number of the active users without assigned workstations 104.

The user management UI 1100 includes a user listing field 1102 and anactions field 1104. The user listing field 1102 is configured to displaya list including display names, user names, designations, roles (e.g.,end user, manager, IT professional, etc.), workstation 104 status (e.g.,identification, location, assigned/not assigned status, and reserved/notreserved status of a workstation 104), and NFC card assignment status(e.g., “yes” for NFC card assigned and “no” for NFC card not assigned)for each of the users in the selected area. The user listing field 1102also includes a search field to enable a search for a particular user.The list displayed in the user listing field 1102 may be sortable bydisplay name, user name, designation, role, workstation status, and NFCcard assignment status.

The actions field 1104 includes links to interfaces for performingoperations related to user management. By way of non-limiting example,the actions field 1104 includes a “create a new user” link configured tonavigate to a UI that enables creation of a new user in the system 100who can use the system 100. Also by way of non-limiting example, theactions field 1104 includes a “create multiple new users” linkconfigured to navigate to a UI that enables creation of multiple newusers through the use of a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file. As anothernon-limiting example, the actions field 1104 includes an “edit user”link configured to navigate to a UI that enables edits to be made todetails of an existing user. As a further non-limiting example, theactions field 1104 includes a “deactivate user” link that navigates to aUI that enables deactivation on one or more of the existing users. Asanother non-limiting example, the actions field 1104 includes a “linkNFC card to user” link that navigates to a UI that enables an NFC cardto be assigned to a particular user.

FIG. 12 is an example view of the alerts UI 1200, according to someembodiments. The alerts UI 1200 is configured to enable a user to viewand take actions on alerts affecting the system 100 of FIG. 1. Thealerts may include critical alerts (e.g., alerts regarding communicationconnectivity loss, internal temperature of the workspace 102, escalatedalerts, etc.), warnings (e.g., battery level (of a sensor battery),power consumption, usage duration, unauthorized access, ambient sensorthreshold warnings, etc.), and notifications (e.g., new updatenotifications, override event notifications, etc.). The alerts UI 1200includes an alerts display field 1214 configured to display alerts for aselected area (e.g., selected using the change data scope menu 328).

The alerts displayed in the alerts display field 1214 may be displayedin a map view responsive to a user selection of a map view option 1208(as illustrated in FIG. 12) or in a list view responsive to a userselection of a list view option 1210 (as illustrated in FIG. 13). In themap view, the alerts display field 1214 may be configured to displayalert links 1212 at locations within the workspace 102 where issuesassociated with the alerts are located. These alert links 1212, ifselected by a user, may navigate to UIs designed to enable the user totake action on the specific issues associated with the alerts orescalate the alerts (e.g., to critical alerts).

The alerts displayed in the alerts display field 1214 may be narrowed byuser selections of options within a critical alerts field 1202, awarnings field 1204, and a notifications field 1206. The critical alertsfield 1202 includes a connectivity loss option, an internal temperatureoption, and an escalated alerts field. A user selection of any of theseoptions in the critical alerts field 1202 will cause the alerts displayfield 1214 to only display a corresponding subset of all the alerts ofthe selected area. For example, a user selection of the connectivityloss option within the critical alerts field 1202 would cause the alertsdisplay field 1214 to display only those of the alerts that concerncommunication connectivity loss (e.g., network outages, etc.). Also byway of non-limiting example, a user selection of the internaltemperature option within the critical alerts field 1202 would cause thealerts display field 1214 to display only those of the alerts thatconcern internal temperature. In the example of FIG. 12, none of theoptions in the critical alerts field 1202, warnings field 1204, ornotifications field 1206 have been selected so the alerts display field1214 is displaying all alerts in the selected area.

The warnings field 1204 includes a battery levels option, a powerconsumption option, a usage duration option, an unauthorized accessoption, and an ambient sensor threshold option. User selections of theseoptions of the warnings field 1204 would cause the alerts display field1214 to display only those of the alerts that concern battery levels(e.g., of the sensor 128, IoT sensor pack 210, etc.), power consumption,usage duration, unauthorized access, and ambient sensor threshold,respectively. The notifications field 1206 includes a new updatesavailable option and an override events option. User selections of theseoptions of the notifications field 1206 would cause the alerts displayfield 1214 to display only those of the alerts that concern new updatesthat are available and override events, respectively.

FIG. 13 is an example view of the alerts UI 1200, according to someembodiments. In the example of FIG. 13, the critical alerts option ofthe critical alerts field 1202 has been selected, so the alerts displayfield 1214 is displaying only those of the alerts in the selected areathat are categorized as critical alerts. Also, in the example of FIG.13, the list view option 1210 has been selected, so the alerts in thealerts display field 1214 are displayed in a list view. The list viewincludes, for each displayed alert, an alert description, a time of thealert, an office where the alert occurred, a floor within the officewhere the alert occurred, a zone within the floor where the alertoccurred, and a zone within the floor where the alert occurred. The listview also includes an escalate option 1302 and an alert link 1212 foreach of the alerts. The escalate option 1302 is configured to escalatethe corresponding alert to a critical alert if selected by the user. Thealert link 1212 is configured to navigate to a UI for taking action forthe issue of the corresponding alert.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that variousmodifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departingfrom the scope of the disclosure. The scope of the protected inventionshould, therefore, be determined only based on the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system to manage a workspace, comprising: aplurality of docking stations located at corresponding workstations,each docking station to provide a network connection and power to acomputer device at a corresponding workstation, each docking station ofthe plurality of docking stations including: a power input, and anetwork interface to communicate with a network; and a system computerincluding a system network interface to communicate with each dockingstation of the plurality of docking stations via the network.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein each docking station of the plurality ofdocking stations is further configured to monitor user-entered input ofthe computer device located at the corresponding workstation andtransmit information indicating the monitored user-entered input to thesystem computer.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein each docking stationof the plurality of docking stations further comprises: a sensor tomonitor user occupancy at the corresponding workstation and generatesensor data relating to the user occupancy; and a memory including alocation identifier stored thereon, the location identifier identifyinga location of the docking station and the corresponding workstation. 4.The system of claim 3, wherein the sensor includes an infrared sensor toconfirm user occupancy.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the systemcomputer is further configured to: receive the location identifier ofeach docking station, receive the sensor data from each docking station,and transmit usage data identifying usage of the correspondingworkstation to the system computer, the usage data based on the receivedlocation identifier and the received sensor data.
 6. The system of claim5, wherein the system computer is further configured to generate anavailability notice based on the usage data, the availability noticeindicating one or more of the workstations that are currently unoccupiedby users and locations of the one or more currently unoccupiedworkstations.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the system computer isconfigured to communicate with portable computer devices over thenetwork to provide the availability notice to the portable computerdevices.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the system computer isfurther configured to generate a schedule of currently availableworkstations based on the usage data.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe system computer is further configured to generate an occupancy alertwhen the usage data indicates user occupancy at a scheduled currentlyavailable workstation.
 10. The system of claim 5, wherein the systemcomputer is further configured to generate an anticipated availabilityschedule indicating future likelihood of available workstations andcorresponding locations of the available workstations based on the usagedata.
 11. The system of claim 5, wherein the system computer is furtherconfigured to generate a usage report indicative of the user occupancyat the workstations and corresponding locations based on the usage data.12. The system of claim 5, wherein the system computer is furtherconfigured to: receive a user reservation request to reserve aworkstation; generate a reservation for a specific availableworkstation; and generate a schedule and indicate that the specificavailable workstation is reserved.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinthe system computer is configured to confirm the user occupancy of thespecific available workstation during the reservation based on the usagedata.
 14. The system of claim 5, wherein the system computer is furtherconfigured to generate a schedule of users currently assigned to thecorresponding workstations and locations of the currently assignedworkstations.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the system computer isconfigured to communicate with portable computer devices over thenetwork to provide the schedule to the portable computer devices. 16.The system of claim 14, wherein the system computer is configured to,responsive to a query for a specific user, provide a location of thespecific user's assigned workstation.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein the location of the specific user's assigned workstation ispresented to the specific user in a graphical user interface includingan uploadable map.
 18. The system of claim 5, wherein the systemcomputer is further configured to generate an availability alert whenthe usage data indicates extended vacancy at a workstation that isscheduled to be occupied.
 19. The system of claim 5, wherein: eachdocking station is configured to monitor one or more metrics selectedfrom the group consisting of power consumption, occupancy, alerts, andusage at the corresponding workstation and provide information regardingthe monitored metrics to the system computer; and the system computer isfurther configured to: generate heat-mapping data based on theinformation regarding the monitored metrics received from each dockingstation, and generate a graphical user image including heat-mappingrepresenting the monitored metrics at each workstation.
 20. The systemof claim 19, wherein the system computer is further configured toanalyze the sensor data and generate a graphical user interface withindication of current user occupancy at the workstations.
 21. The systemof claim 20, wherein the graphical user interface includes anidentification of currently available workstations.
 22. The system ofclaim 19, wherein the system computer is further configured to analyzethe information regarding the monitored metrics and generate theheat-mapping in real-time.
 23. The system of claim 19, wherein thesystem computer is further configured to analyze the informationregarding the monitored metrics and generate a snapshot of heat-mappingat a certain point in time.
 24. The system of claim 5, wherein thesystem computer is further configured to generate a graphical userinterface with indication of electronic devices identified at theworkstations based on the usage data.
 25. The system of claim 1,wherein: each docking station of the plurality of docking stationsfurther comprises: a plurality of peripheral device ports to communicatewith one or more peripheral devices; and a processor to identify the oneor more peripheral devices currently communicating with the dockingstation and generate peripheral identifications indicating identities ofthe one or more peripheral devices.
 26. The system of claim 25, whereinthe processor of each docking station is configured to identify the oneor more peripheral devices by: monitoring power profiles from the one ormore peripheral devices; determine whether a match exists between themonitored power profiles and a model power profile; and when the matchexists, identify a peripheral device associated with the model powerprofile.
 27. The system of claim 25, wherein the system computer andeach docking station is configured to generate a log of the one or moreidentified peripheral devices communicating with each docking station.28. The system of claim 1, wherein the system computer is configured toenable remote software installation, software uninstallation, andsoftware updating of each docking station.
 29. The system of claim 1,wherein the system computer is configured to enable remote softwareinstallation, software uninstallation, and software updating of thecomputer device of the corresponding workstation and other connecteddevices.
 30. The system of claim 1, wherein the system computer isconfigured to enable remote resetting of each docking station.
 31. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the system computer is configured to enableremote resetting of the computer device of the correspondingworkstation.
 32. The system of claim 1, wherein each docking station isconfigured to identify the computer device of the correspondingworkstation.
 33. The system of claim 1, wherein each docking station andthe system computer are configured to monitor and record user operationof the computer device of the corresponding workstation.
 34. The systemof claim 1, wherein the network interface of each docking station isconfigured to enable each docking station to communicate with others ofthe plurality of docking stations through a mesh network, wherein aportion of communications between some of the plurality of dockingstations and the system computer is communicated through the meshnetwork.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein a preselected dockingstation of the plurality of docking stations is configured tocommunicate directly with the system computer to relay communicationsbetween the system computer and others of the plurality of dockingstations.